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While the West recognises the likes of Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith as the biggest male movie stars, Bollywood is ruled by its own monarchy of actors.

And at the top of the pile is Shah Rukh Khan, the 52-year-old actor who has starred in so many movies he’s been dubbed the King of Bollywood, and sometimes is referred to by his initials, SRK.

So just who is this fella and why’s he such a big deal? Let’s take a look.

The actor is one of the most successful film stars in the world (Picture: Getty)

Shah Rukh Khan was born in New Delhi in November 1965 into Muslim family, to a mother who’d fought for Indian independence and a businessman father.

As a youngster Shah Rukh acted in many school productions and took an active role in student theatre while studying Economics.

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He then left his Masters degree studies to pursue acting and got his first major role in a 1989 TV show called Fauji.

He began acting in movies in 1991, following the death of his mother, ten years after his father died. The loss of his parents led him to take his devastated sister Shahnaz in and she lives with him in his mansion to this day.

The star with Sridevi on the set of 1996 movie Army (Picture: Getty)

After a few years in the movie business, SRK became popular for his villainous roles, but by 1995 he was playing the romantic hero.

In 1996, for instance, he starred in Army with the late star Sridevi – though he never kissed any of his co-stars, until 2012, when he was ordered to by director Yash Chopra.

His career continued to flourish over the next decade, before he decided to turn down the offer of playing the game show host in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, a part that went to Anil Kapoor.

Soon after that he wowed with a role in the drama My Name Is Khan, based on perceptions of Islam in the aftermath of 9/11.

Khan with his wife Gauri who he’s been married to for 27 years (Picture: Victor Fraile/Getty Images)

SRK has starred in over 80 movies, is known to an estimated billion people and is still constantly dominating ad boards all over India.

In 1991 he maried Punjabi-Hindu Gauri Chibber and they raised their three children Aryan, 20, Suhana, 17, an AbRam, four, to practice both Islam and Hinduism.

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The performer’s epic status has led him to be named King Khan, or The Baadshah of Bollywood as well as the King of Bollywood – though he refers to his fame as a ‘myth’ he cannot buy into.

As of 2018, his net worth is estimated to be around £540m.

He was given the coveted Padma Shri by the Indian Government in 2005 and has won Best Actor eight times at the Filmfare Awards.